11Jul13

BOJ says economy recovering, unfazed by China slowdown

The Bank of Japan said the world's third-largest economy was finally recovering
as it kept monetary policy steady, its most optimistic view in two-and-half years
reflecting the impact of a weakening yen and its massive monetary stimulus on
activity.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Thursday while overseas economies
were weaker than expected that would be offset by robust domestic consumer
spending and a pick-up in capital expenditure, and so he remained confident of
meeting a target of lifting inflation to 2 percent in roughly two years.

He said the BOJ was monitoring developments in China, Japan's main trading
partner, as growth slowed and as authorities tried to rein in sharp growth in
informal lending.

"Chinese policymakers have clearly shifted to a stance of emphasizing the quality
of economic growth rather than speed," Kuroda told a news conference after the
BOJ's policy review.

Earlier, the central bank's board voted unanimously to maintain its pledge of
increasing base money, or cash and deposits at the central bank, at an annual
pace of 60 trillion to 70 trillion yen ($600 billion-$700 billion).

"Japan's economy is starting to recover moderately," the central bank said in a
statement after its two-day meeting, revising up its assessment for the seventh
straight month.

The last time the BOJ used the word "recover" to describe the economy was in
January 2011, two months before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that
devastated the country.

The central bank made no major changes to its forecast that consumer inflation
would accelerate in the coming years to near 2 percent in the business year
ending March 2016, a key target for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's drive to reflate
the economy.

Many central bank officials are encouraged by bright signs in the economy as the
yen's fall to multi-year lows supports exports and the feel-good mood generated
by Abe's reflationary strategy bolsters consumer spending and business
confidence.

Data on Thursday supported that view, with core machinery orders, a leading
indicator of capital expenditure, rising a bigger-than-expected 10.5 percent in
May.

The BOJ's optimism suggests it will probably hold off on any additional stimulus
at least until late October, when it overhauls its economic and price projections,
analysts said.

"There's no material change to the BOJ's forecasts from April. Basically, the
economy is recovering in line with its main scenario," said Yasuo Yamamoto,
senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute in Tokyo.

Ambitious Target

Kuroda said while markets have been nervous about the outlook for U.S.
monetary policy, there was a growing understanding about the Fed's policy
intentions as it signaled a possible tapering of its own monetary stimulus.

"We must continue to scrutinize the impact such monetary policy developments
could have on emerging markets," he said.

The market volatility appears to have had little impact so far on Japan's economy,
which emerged from a recession late last year to grow an annualized 4.1 percent
in the March quarter.

The BOJ board slightly cut its median forecast for core consumer inflation to 0.6
percent for the current business year to March 2014 from a 0.7 percent forecast in
April, due to the impact of falling commodity prices.

It also tweaked its core consumer inflation projection for the following year to 1.3
percent from 1.4 percent, but kept its estimate for fiscal 2015/16 unchanged at
1.9 percent.

The projection remains far more ambitious than private-sector forecasts around 1
percent, a sign many analysts doubt there can be a quick exit from 15 years of
deflation.

Kuroda said inflation expectations were already rising and expected the
improving economy to gradually lift wages.

But many analysts seen his inflation goal as overly ambitious, and even BOJ
board members Takehiro Sato and Takahide Kiuchi, both economists, remain
skeptical as to whether inflation can pick up that fast.

Yamamoto of Mizuho Research said the BOJ's inflation forecasts were too
optimistic given concerns that demand could drop after an expected sales tax
hike next April.

"The BOJ could move again early next year as downside risks to its price target
are likely to become more clear," he said.

($1 = 100.1050 Japanese yen)

[Source: By Leika Kihara and Stanley White, Reuters, Tokyo, 11Jul13]

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